Stephen Lee has been suspended by the snooker authorities following suspicious betting patterns during Thursday's Premier League match with John Higgins.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) were already investigating Lee for alleged match-fixing back in 2010.

The new allegations have led the governing body to suspend the 38-year-old Englishman.

"On 12 October 2012, the WPBSA was informed of suspicious betting patterns relating to a game between Stephen Lee and John Higgins played on October 11, 2012," read a WPBSA statement.

"This suspicious activity has also been referred to Nigel Mawer, the chairman of the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee.

"The WPBSA have concluded that it would not be appropriate for Stephen Lee to continue to compete on the World Snooker Tour whilst these investigations are undertaken and therefore WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson has taken the decision to suspend Stephen from competition whilst this enquiry is on going.

"Subject to his right to appeal, this suspension will remain in place until either the conclusion of the investigation or any resultant hearings."

No criminal proceedings were launched by the Crown Prosecution Service for the allegations against Lee in 2010.